Press
"Cacti and palm trees are dotted around Finca Malvasia's beautifully lit swimming pool, a blue oasis around which nestle seven single-storey white-washed lodges. The finca - a small farm in the village of Masdache - is still and calm, surrounded by vineyards and brooding hills. The old farm building next to the lodges has retained many original features, and the landscaped gardens are perfect for reclining on sun loungers and enjoying one of the many types of massage on offer.
Richard and Tarnya, the English couple who run the finca, sold their London-based software firm a few years back and ploughed some of the money into turning the finca into the sort of place that inevitably earns the label 'boutique' but in this case comes without any of the po-faced haughtiness such places often inspire.
Instead of luxuriating in their success, they are keen to put something back into the island. Both are learning Spanish and their three-year-old son, Joss, is enrolled in the local kindergarten. They buy from neighbouring farmers and markets to prepare their delicious tagine and paella dinners, which are served in private on the terraces outside each lodge. One day, they hope to develop their own-label wine from their vineyards surrounding the finca."
The Observer, October 2008
"Known as the 'Hawaii of Europe' for its waves, Lanzarote now has award-winning wines and restaurants that should appeal to food-loving surfers. The stylish Finca Malvasia, set in its own vineyard, is offering week-long stays on a bed-and-breakfast basis which include individual surf tuition at Famara beach and a massage, plus an evening of local food - and wine-tasting back at the finca, and another on which a surfer's supper is served."
Swell Times, Conde Nast Traveller (UK), July 2008
"Lanzarote is the best dressed of the Canary Islands, with bright volcanic scenery and pretty houses painted in green and white. Stay inland at the newly opened Finca Malvasia, which has a pool, a spa and vineyards."
Marie Claire, February 2008
"Where to Celebrate New Year's Eve with a bang you'll never forget. Lanzarote New Year tradition: Wear your best red underwear for luck; eat 12 grapes and make 12 wishes as the clock chimes 12. Finca Malvasia: chic self-catering suites run by a British surfer."
Party Poppers, Conde Nast Traveller (UK), January 2008
"The four boutique apartments of Finca Malvasia, set in an old working vineyard, have been transformed by a young British couple, Tarnya and Richard Norse-Evans, who fell in love with the island and its surf a decade ago and finally permanently relocated there earlier this year.
They offer a nicely personal take on chic self-catering apartments, which they have refitted with appropriately mid-century modernist furnishings. Guests can order platters of local produce for breakfast, get surf lessons or guided trips with Richard or indulge in spa, massage and yoga treatments in a pleasing round stone hut on the edge of the vineyard.
The couple are also a mine of useful information about everything from the best secret surf spots to local wines, and on the first evening served up a very decent bottle of white made from the grapes from their own vineyard."
The Guardian, November 2007
